JPH04250473A - Method for controlling cooling fan of copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To compatibly accomplish the reduction in a cost, the reduction in noise and contamination in a copying machine by a cooling fan at the time of copying in a method for controlling the cooling fan of the copying machine. CONSTITUTION:This method includes a stage shown by S1 for discriminating whether or not the copying machine is during copying actions, stages shown by S2 and S3 for discriminating whether or not the acting history of the copying machine in a past fixed time satisfies a specified condition, and a stage shown by S4 for commanding the driving of the cooling fan based on the discriminated result at the stages S2 and S3 only when that the copying machine is during the copying actions is discriminated at the stage S1. At the stage S2, the acting history of the copying machine is set at the elapse time from stopping the cooling fan, and the acting history of the copying machine at the stage S3 is set at the number of sheets copied by the copying machine.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a cooling fan for a copying machine, and more particularly to a method for controlling a cooling fan for a copying machine to prevent the temperature of the copying machine from rising by driving the cooling fan.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, electrostatic copying machines use a halogen lamp, a fluorescent lamp, or the like as a light source for exposing an original. When using a fluorescent lamp, etc., the amount of heat generated by the light source itself is small, but when using a halogen lamp, it is necessary to suppress the temperature rise near the document placement area, which is often touched by the operator, due to the heat generated by the light source. There is. Therefore, especially in the case of a copying machine that uses halogen lamps, in consideration of the safety of the operator and the copying machine itself, there is a is equipped with a cooling fan. The cooling fan sucks air from outside the copying machine into the machine through a dustproof filter and blows it around the exposed area of the original, thereby suppressing temperature rise. on the other hand,
If such a cooling fan is provided, fan noise and image defects will occur. In other words, even if a dust filter is used, if the air outside the aircraft contains a lot of dust and dust, there is a high possibility that the inside of the aircraft will become dirty. If it adheres, image defects such as background stains due to insufficient light amount will occur due to a decrease in reflectance and transmittance. If a dustproof filter with high dustproof performance is used, it is possible to reduce the intrusion of dirt and dust, but a powerful cooling fan is required, resulting in problems such as increased fan noise. Therefore, a method has been proposed in which the cooling of the copying machine is controlled so that the driving time of the cooling fan is shortened.

For example, the following three methods are known as methods for controlling cooling fans for copying machines. As a first example, there is a method in which the rotational speed of the cooling fan is changed by shifting the input power or the like between when copying (hereinafter referred to as copying) is on standby and when copying is being performed. In this method, the number of rotations of the cooling fan during standby for a copy operation is lowered to reduce noise caused by the cooling fan and dirt inside the machine.

As a second example, there is a method in which a cooling fan is driven only during copying. This method aims to achieve the same effect as the first example described above. As a third example, there is a method in which a temperature sensor is provided at a predetermined position of a copying machine, and a cooling fan is driven when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor exceeds a certain temperature. In this method, even during copying, noise and dirt inside the machine can be reduced if the copying operation is intermittent.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional method of controlling the cooling fan of a copying machine, it is difficult to achieve both cost reduction and reduction of noise caused by the cooling fan and dirt inside the machine, especially during copying. The problem was that it was not possible. That is, in the first and second examples described above, since the cooling fan is always driven during copying, it is very difficult to reduce the noise caused by the cooling fan and the dirt inside the machine during copying. Further, in the third example, although the problems like those in the first and second examples can be solved, it is necessary to provide a temperature sensor, which increases the cost.

[0006] Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for turning on the cooling fan only when it is determined that the copying machine is in the process of copying, in accordance with the result of determining whether or not the operation history of the copying machine within a past certain period of time satisfies a predetermined condition. The objective is to achieve both cost reduction and reduction of noise caused by the cooling fan and dirt inside the machine during copying.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cooling fan control method for a copying machine equipped with a cooling fan that is driven by a predetermined drive command, the method of controlling a cooling fan while the copying machine is in a copying operation. a first step of determining whether or not the copying machine is in a copying operation; a second step of determining whether the operation history of the copying machine within a past certain period of time satisfies a predetermined condition; and a third step of instructing the cooling fan to be driven based on the determination result in the second step only when it is determined that the second step The operating history of the copying machine in
Alternatively, the operation history of the copying machine in the second step may be the number of copies made by the copying machine.

[0008]

According to the present invention, only when it is determined in the first step that the copying machine is in a copying operation, the cooling fan is driven based on the determination result in the second step. Therefore, even without using a temperature sensor or the like, it is possible to stop the cooling fan appropriately during a copy operation, and the driving time of the cooling fan is shortened.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a copying machine to which a cooling fan control method for a copying machine according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 shows an example of a control procedure of the cooling fan control method for a copying machine according to the present invention. It is a diagram.

First, the configuration of the copying machine will be briefly explained. In FIG. 1, 11 is a copying machine, and the copying machine 11 includes a cooling fan 12, a control unit 13, a contact glass 14, an automatic document feeding unit 15, an optical unit 16, an image forming unit 17, a paper feeding unit 18, and a fixing unit. 19
etc. Note that the arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the transport path of the transfer paper.

The cooling fan 12 is placed on the upper right side of the copying machine 11 in FIG. Dip and cool. The control unit 13 is composed of a microcomputer, etc.
A drive command is issued to the cooling fan 12 to control the drive of the cooling fan 12 according to the procedure described later. Further, in this embodiment, the control section 13 controls the operations of the automatic original unit 15, the optical unit 16, the image forming unit 17, the paper feeding unit 18, the fixing unit 19, and the like. Note that the detailed configuration and operation of the control section 13 and each unit are well known, and therefore their description will be omitted.

Next, a procedure for controlling the cooling fan 12 by the control section 13 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that S1 to S5 in FIG. 2 indicate each step of the flowchart. In S1, it is determined whether a copy operation is in progress;
If the copying operation is not in progress, the process advances to S5 and the cooling fan 12 is stopped. On the other hand, if the copy operation is in progress, the process advances to S2, and the cooling fan 12 is activated within the past t hours, for example, within 30 seconds.
It is determined whether or not the motor is driven. In S2, cooling fan 1
If the cooling fan 12 is being driven, the process advances to S4 and a drive command is issued to drive the cooling fan 12. If the cooling fan 12 is not being driven in S2, the process advances to S3 and within the past T hours,
For example, it is determined whether N or more copies, for example, 10 or more copies have been made within 5 minutes. In S3, if 10 or more copies have been made within 5 minutes, the process proceeds to S4 and a drive command is issued to drive the cooling fan 12; if not, the process proceeds to S5 to stop the cooling fan 12. Note that the times t, T, and the number of sheets N may be set to appropriate values depending on the model of the copying machine, the usage environment, etc. Therefore, the above-mentioned procedure includes a first step of determining whether or not the copying machine 11 is in the process of copying, and a second step of determining whether or not the operation history of the copying machine 11 within a certain period of time satisfies a predetermined condition. and a third step of instructing to drive the cooling fan 12 based on the determination result in the second step only when it is determined in the first step that the copying machine 11 is in a copying operation. are doing. In particular, S2 corresponds to the case where the operation history of the copying machine 11 in the second step is set to the elapsed time from the cooling fan stop, and S3 corresponds to the case where the operation history of the copying machine 11 in the second step is set to the elapsed time of the copying machine 11. This corresponds to the number of copies.

When the drive of the cooling fan 12 is controlled as described above, when the copy operation is on standby, the cooling fan 12 is activated.
2 stops. On the other hand, during the copying operation, the cooling fan 12 is driven and stopped as appropriate. That is, even if the copy standby time is 10 minutes or more, if 10 or more sheets are continuously copied, the cooling fan 12 is driven after the 10th sheet and the temperature rise is prevented. In addition, even if copying is used intermittently, if the interval is short or if the cooling fan 1
The cooling fan 12 is driven during a copy operation within a certain period of time (30 seconds or less) after the cooling fan 12 is driven. On the other hand, if the copying frequency is approximately one copy every few minutes, which is similar to the conditions of use in a general office, the cooling fan 12 will not be driven.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the cooling fan 12 is stopped when copying is on standby, and even during copying operation, temperature rise in the vicinity of the contact glass 14 is prevented without providing a temperature sensor or the like. While cooling fan 1
2 can be stopped as appropriate, and the driving time of the cooling fan 12 can be shortened. Therefore, cooling fan 1
2 can reduce the noise caused by the cooling fan 1.
2 can shorten the time it takes to suck in air from outside the machine, and can reduce the amount of dirt and dust entering the machine. As a result, it is possible to achieve both cost reduction and reduction of noise caused by the cooling fan and dirt inside the machine during copying.

[0015]

According to the present invention, only when it is determined in the first step that the copying machine is in the process of copying, the second
Since the cooling fan is driven based on the determination result in the process, it is possible to stop the cooling fan as appropriate during the copy operation while ensuring the necessary cooling performance without using a temperature sensor or the like. Driving time can be shortened. Therefore, it is possible to achieve both cost reduction and reduction of noise caused by the cooling fan and dirt inside the machine during copying.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of a copying machine to which a cooling fan control method for a copying machine according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a control procedure of a cooling fan control method for a copying machine according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Copy machine 12 Cooling fan 13 Control section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cooling fan control method for a copying machine equipped with a cooling fan driven by a predetermined drive command, the method comprising:
A first step of determining whether or not the copying machine is in the process of copying, a second step of determining whether or not the operation history of the copying machine within a certain amount of time in the past satisfies a predetermined condition; A cooling fan for a copying machine, comprising a third step of instructing the cooling fan to be driven based on the determination result in the second step only when it is determined that the machine is in a copying operation. Control method. 2. The method of controlling a cooling fan for a copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the operation history of the copying machine in the second step is an elapsed time since the cooling fan stopped. 3. The method of controlling a cooling fan for a copying machine according to claim 2, wherein the operation history of the copying machine in the second step is the number of copies made by the copying machine.